24 hours in pictures, 19 June 2025

24 hours in pictures, 19 June 2025
Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
A racegoer attends Royal Ascot on Ladies Day in Ascot, Britain, 19 June 2025. The horse race meeting and social event runs daily from 17 to 21 June 2025. Picture: EPA-EFE/NEIL HALL
Nurses walk along a balcony corrider past a first responder filming with a phone as smoke billows from a building at Soroka Hospital following an Iranian missile attack in Beersheba in southern Israel on June 19, 2025. Soroka Hospital and two towns near Tel Aviv were struck after a barrage of Iranian missiles early on June 19, with rescuers reporting at least 47 people injured in the latest attacks. (Photo by JOHN WESSELS / AFP) A man dressed as a Dancing Devil of Chuao stands for a picture on a cocoa plantation during the second day of the Corpus Christi celebration in Chuao, Venezuela, on June 19, 2025. The Venezuelan Dancing Devils of Corpus Christi were recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2012. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP) Female artists speak with visitors at an exhibition organized by the Union of Women Painters in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 June 2025. Picture: EPA-EFE/SAMIULLAH POPAL Former MK Party SG Floyd Shivambu briefs the media at Mhulu Luxury Boutique Hotel on June 19, 2025 in Midrand, South Africa. This comes after Floyd Shivambu was removed from his position as uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party Secretary-General a few weeks back. (Photo by Gallo Images/Fani Mahuntsi) Palestinians leave their cars to seek cover from tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers during a military operation in the Balata refugee camp, near the West Bank city of Nablus, 19 June 2025. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 30 Palestinians were wounded during the second day of the Israeli operation in the camp. Picture: EPA-EFE/ALAA BADARNEH Members of ActionSA during a protest demanding the removal of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Head , Advocate Shamila Batohi outside the offices of the Department of Justice And Constitutional Development on June 19, 2025 in Pretoria, South Africa. Opposition parties have slammed the NPA for failing to successfully prosecute those implicated in state capture and botched extradition matters. (Photo by Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu) People attend the Corpus Christi procession, which, in addition to Roman Catholics, also included Greek Catholics with their clergy, in Przemysl, Poland, 19 June 2025. Celebrations of the Feast of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ are taking place throughout Poland, one of the most important holidays in the Catholic Church. Picture: EPA-EFE/Darek Delmanowicz Fans collect autographs from the South Africa men's Cricket Team players during a meet and greet event, 19 June 2025, at the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton after the team won the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship at Lord's over the weekend. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen Vehicles travel through a flooded street in Juchit Mexico, 19 June 2025. Hurricane Erick, the first of the 2025 season in the Mexican Pacific, made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane and weakened to a tropical storm after passing through the state of Guerrero, in southern Mexico, causing material damage but no casualties. Picture: EPA-EFE/LUIS VILLALOBOS Cuban artist Daldo Marto performs at the launch of the 'Art Brut' exhibition, as part of the 'Grand Palais d'Ete' (Summer of the Grand Palais) in Paris, France, 19 June 2025. The event gives the public free access to the exhibitions of the fully restored monument and runs from 11 June to 21 September 2025. Picture: EPA-EFE/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON A person holds flags during a demonstration for peace in Iran and Gaza; in Caracas, Venezuela, 19 June 2025. Picture: EPA-EFE/MIGUEL GUTIERREZ
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Military bases or vital waterway: Iran weighs response to US strikes

Iran has vowed to retaliate for US air strikes on its nuclear facilities, and has two main options: attacking American forces in the region, and closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz. An advisor to Iran's supreme leader issued a warning on Sunday, saying any US base in the region that takes part in attacks is a "legitimate target". Disrupting traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for oil and gas, would send energy prices soaring in a global inflationary shock. Closing the waterway would be "extremely dangerous", Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat, said on Monday. AFP looks at the two scenarios and their possible implications. - Strait of Hormuz - AFP | Jonathan WALTER, Valentina BRESCHI The narrow, U-shaped seaway snaking between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula is the gateway for Gulf energy shipments to global markets, carrying one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas exports. Closing the 50-kilometre (30-mile) wide channel could spike oil to $120 a barrel, according to Deutsche Bank research, raising prices of transport, food and utilities around the world. "It's in the best interest of all Middle Eastern countries to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and prevent any supply disruption," Rystad Energy senior analyst Lu Ming Pang wrote last week. Currently, traders do not appear too concerned. Brent crude was trading at $76 on Monday, marginally changed from Friday's close. "Looking at the oil price this morning, it is clear that the oil market doesn't assign a very high probability of (a closure) happening," said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB bank. The big question is whether Iran is prepared to detonate this economic hand-grenade. Despite threats in the past, including in 2011 as oil sanctions loomed, it has not pulled the pin. AFP | Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA, Omar KAMAL According to a senior European official, the Iranians do not have the means to block the strait "long-term", but they could hamper shipping. But "it would be a form of suicide to do that," the official said. "The effect on Israel would be close to zero, the effect on themselves immense, as well as on the United States, Europe and China." Iranian forces have nearly 200 fast patrol boats that can fire anti-ship missiles or torpedoes, plus mine-laying vessels, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. But the US Fifth Fleet, a major naval force, is stationed across the Gulf in Bahrain, and Iran remains under daily fire from Israeli warplanes and drones. Iran's own energy exports, in spite of sanctions, remain an important source of income for the world's ninth-biggest oil-producing country. - US bases - With United States military bases spread around the Gulf countries to Iran's west, there is no shortage of potential targets. Kuwait, in a legacy of the 1990 Gulf war, houses about 13,500 US forces, while the biggest US base in the region is Al Udeid in Qatar. The US Fifth Fleet, covering the Gulf, Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean, is based in Bahrain, and about 3,500 US personnel are stationed at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. In Iraq, US troops are deployed in various installations, including the Al-Asad and Arbil air bases, as part of an anti-jihadist coalition. Iran-backed Iraqi armed factions have threatened Washington's interests should it join Israel's campaign, having targeted them in previous years. Increased US involvement in the Iran-Israel war risks attacks "on US interests, US bases and such across the region", said Renad Mansour, senior research fellow at Chatham House. "The US attack on Iran has now meant that this war is between Israel, the United States and Iran, which means that across the region, Iran may seek to target the US," he added. However, this option is also fraught for Iran as it risks isolating itself from the powerful Gulf monarchies that enjoy good relations with Washington. "Tehran is unlikely to strike Gulf Arab states," said Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at King's College London. "Even as it sees the UAE and Saudi Arabia as quiet enablers of the US-Israeli axis, Iran understands that any attack on their soil would likely unify them against it and open the door for greater American military presence. "Instead, Iran may issue veiled warnings to these states, use regional proxies to pressure them, or engage in cyber or intelligence disruptions targeting their interests -- maintaining plausible deniability while raising the cost of involvement." By Talek Harris With Rouba El Husseini In Baghdad

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Where is Iran's uranium? Questions abound after US strikes

After President Donald Trump bragged US strikes had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear capabilities, officials cautioned it was still too soon to assess the impact on the country's nuclear programme. Many questions remain after Sunday's strikes, especially about the whereabouts of Iran's sensitive stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent -- a short step from the 90 percent required for a nuclear weapon. - Where is Iran's enriched uranium? - The US attacks, carried out by B-2 stealth bombers, targeted three Iranian nuclear sites: Isfahan and Iran's main enrichment plants in Fordo and Natanz. While significant damage has been reported, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has voiced concern about Iran's stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium. Tehran has an estimated 408.6 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 percent, according to the UN nuclear watchdog, whose inspectors last saw that stockpile on June 10. That material, if further refined, would theoretically be sufficient to produce more than nine nuclear bombs. IAEA head Rafael Grossi on Monday demanded access to Iran's nuclear sites, saying the agency needs to "account for" the uranium stockpile. Concerns about the fate of the sensitive stockpile have loomed large. On June 13, the day Israel began its Iran offensive, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sent a letter to the IAEA, announcing the implementation of "special measures to protect nuclear equipment and material". Days before the US attacked, satellite imagery showed vehicles near Fordo's entrance. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had "interesting intelligence" on the matter, declining to elaborate. Israel announced Monday it had carried out strikes to block access routes to Fordo. "It will be difficult if not impossible to track down all of Iran's 60 percent enriched uranium, stored in small canisters that are easily transportable by car," Kelsey Davenport, an expert with the Arms Control Association, told AFP. "They (Iranians) no longer have the capacity to turn that stockpile of highly enriched uranium to weapons-grade uranium, and that was really the goal there," US Vice President JD Vance told ABC News. He added the Trump administration would deal with the uranium "in the coming weeks". - Can Iran still make a nuclear bomb? - Analysts have been treading carefully when addressing this issue. Before the attacks, Iran had about 22,000 centrifuges -- the machines used to enrich uranium. Many of them were damaged when Natanz was hit, the IAEA head said. Grossi also said "very significant damage" is expected to have occurred at Fordo, "given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges". Experts however say that it is unclear how many centrifuges Iran has, with some of them believed to be stored at unknown locations. With "60 percent enriched uranium and a few hundred advanced centrifuges, Iran still has the capability to weaponise, and now there is more political impetus to dash for a bomb", said Davenport. - What are the proliferation risks? - Before the conflict, the IAEA said it had "no indication" of the existence of a "systematic programme" in Iran to produce a nuclear weapon. But without access to nuclear sites, the agency no longer has oversight. Grossi warned Monday that the "global non-proliferation regime that has underpinned international security... could crumble and fall", urging parties to return to diplomacy. Iran ratified the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) in 1970, committing it to declare its nuclear material to the IAEA. But it has recently begun preparing the grounds for a possible withdrawal from the treaty, accusing the agency of acting as a "partner" in Israel's "war of aggression". Reza Najafi, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, said Monday the "unlawful act of aggression" by the United States had "delivered a fundamental and irreparable blow" to the non-proliferation regime. "I do think there is a major risk that Iran withdraws from the NPT and expels inspectors, or simply does not provide them with access to key sites," said Eric Brewer of the US research institute Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). He added that Iran could also "over time, build (a) covert" programme like North Korea, which withdrew from the NPT in 2003 and went on to become a nuclear-armed power. By Anne Beade

Eyewitness News

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Iran-Israel war must not become refugee crisis: United Nations

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